Tokyo Awarded '20 Summer Games, Promising Lucrative Olympics

Tokyo won the right to host the '20 Olympic Games, beating out bids from Istanbul and Madrid, by promising to deliver a celebratory, dependable and financially lucrative event. In choosing Tokyo, the IOC opted to hand the Olympics off to the only city of the three that had hosted the Games before. The city offered stability and guaranteed on-time delivery at a time when the IOC has expressed uneasiness about preparations in Rio, which is already behind schedule on many developments for the '16 Games. As Tokyo 2020 Bid Committee leader Tsunekazu Takeda said, “Tokyo can be trusted to be (the IOC’s) safe pair of hands and much more.”

REAX: IOC member Prince Albert of Monaco acknowledged: "I think there was a shift to a safe bet” (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 9/8). Japan's presentation was “technically stunning and by far the most emotional” (USATODAY.com, 9/7). The decision was “met with elation in Japan, where it was seen as a vote of international support for the nation’s efforts to pull itself out of a long economic and political decline and to overcome the devastating earthquake, tsunami and nuclear accident two years ago” (N.Y. TIMES, 9/8). The winning bid “is about restoring hope and energy among the nation's weary populace, something Japan needs desperately” (WSJ.com, 9/8). Each of the cities “had been seen as an imperfect choice” (FT.com, 9/8). Chicago Tribune's Philip Hersh on his Twitter feed writes, "Conventional wisdom is Tokyo win hurts US chances for 2024 by giving Europe cities a chance. And 2024 is 100th anniv of last Paris games."